Enchanting Essex

Tag: photography

  • Winsome Wisteria

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    Way back in the early 2010s, and after much thought and debate, we resolved that Cam ought to request early retirement.  His pension had fully vested and, prior to Cam, the Perrault men had all died around age 70 due to one form or another of heart disease.  We wanted more than five years together. …

  • I Love Daisies

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    I love daisies.  They’re so friendly.Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?* One of the first things I noticed when we moved to south-west Ontario is the distinct lack of wild Daisies.  Everywhere else in our province, they dominate roadsides, meadows — virtually everywhere that wildflowers grow.  But not here.  And I am a…

  • The Bee’s Teacup

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    Cup Plant is an herbaceous, native, hardy perennial in the Daisy family. These beauties adorn the meadow beneath the Caldwell First Nations’ Boardwalk from August to September. Fun Fact: Cup Plant is fancifully known as the Indigenous “Chewing Gum”. The Anishinaabe peoples (including the Chippewa/Ojibwe, of which the Caldwell First Nation is a part) historically…

  • The Flower Hour #46: PQR – One of Each

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    A single little wildflower standing bright and free,Is all the floral beauty our Flower Hour needs from me! Fun Fact:  Because it blooms early in the spring, it is a critical food source for butterflies, when many other plants are still dormant, specifically Swallowtail Butterflies. Fun Fact:  Legend says Queen Anne pricked her finger with…

  • Amethyst and Emerald

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    Swamp Vervain is an herbaceous perennial of the Verbena family.  It is native to Ontario, thriving in our province’s natural wetlands and wet meadows and along stream banks.   Juncos, Cardinals, and Sparrows eat the flower’s seeds and rabbits eat the leaves.  Amethyst and Emerald Where emerald reeds catch the breeze,And marshlands dip to muddy…

  • Rosy Crowns

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    Swamp Milkweed is an herbaceous, native, water-loving perennial of the Milkweed family.  In fact, it is a highly beneficial  plant that has belonged to Ontario’s wetlands, shorelines, and wet meadows for thousands of years.  Today’s pictures are all from the Pannes at Presqu’ile.  The freshwater pannes at Presqu’ile Provincial Park are a globally significant and…

  • Sunday Stills: It’s National #Beach Day— Inland Seas and the Wandering Heart

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    Whether it’s been playing and frolicking with family or slow, introspective walks alone, I’ve spent many an enjoyable hour on a beach — with or without my camera.  I’ve found sea glass, shells — even a perfect starfish on Clearwater Beach — driftwood, glass bottles (no messages), and so much more. I enjoy my beach…

  • Rust and Red

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    Rust and Red Old and rusty, dressed in red,A peaceful field its favourite bed.With a rumbling heart and a steady drive,Doug’s vintage Massey thirty-five. It’s worked the soil and felt the sun,A lifetime’s work that’s never done.Though years have given it a weathered grace,No newer tractor could take its place. ’Til next time, y’all…

  • The Flower Hour #45: Absolutely no advice whatsoever from the Wild Sunflowers of Essex County!

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    Here in Essex County we have three varieties of wild sunflowers: Woodland or Rough Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus): Sunchoke or Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus): False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides): At this time of year there are glorious, orangish-yellow pops of colour seemingly everywhere – roadsides, meadows, woodlands — you simply cannot escape their vibrant beauty (and why…

  • The Faerie’s Bonnet

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    Columbines — both the wild and garden varieties — are herbaceous perennials of the Buttercup family.  The only species native to Ontario is the Canada or Wild Columbine: This is the species I grew up knowing and loving.  They grow everywhere in the wild — meadows, woodlands, stream banks, and roadsides.  Its flowers are a…

  • Carolinian Cutie

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    Gosh, did we ever have a lovely visitor this evening! We knew immediately that this wee guy was a fledgling by his teeny-tiny peeps — that were constant:  Mum, Mum, Mum, I need food!  His mum and dad are sure to be close-by keeping an eye on their kiddo and foraging for insects for him. …

  • Forest Jewels

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    Violets are native, herbaceous perennials that are their own family within the plant kingdom.  The most common species in Ontario is the Wooly Blue (sometimes Common blue).  It prefers damp woodlands and forest floors — exactly the environment behind our home where, unsurprisingly, several species of Violet flourish.   Fun Fact:  Violets use their local…

  • Sunday Stills:  The Odonates Redux* — Gargantuan Green

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    A vibrant knight in sparkling vest,He chose my bricks to pause and rest.A three-inch giant, fierce and blue,A flash of wild that journeyed through. ‘Though all my photography buddies have many pictures of Green Darners, the species has been my white whale.  Until this afternoon.  Until five hours (5!!!) after I posted my insects for…

  • Sunday Stills:  The Odonates of Essex County

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    For Sunday Stills, Terri writes, this week I challenge you to share images of insects.  Ohmigosh!  I was beaming from ear to ear when I read that line.  This is, at last, a prompt/challenge for which my photography catalogue is very well-equipped.  Terri started us off with Hart’s “Dog and Butterfly” — I ask you,…

  • Waltz of the Flowers

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    Cosmos are an herbaceous, annual, wildflower that is native to Mexico.  ‘Though most Cosmos in Ontario are cultivars, there are increasing numbers of re-wilded Cosmos.  Interestingly, the seeds are informally known as hitchhikers — they have tiny hooks that can catch on animal fur and the animals (squirrels mostly, in our area) carry them to…

  • Lens-Artists Challenge #410 – My Editing Exercises

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    The beautiful cow took a leap from the bridge,And sailed past a swan on a mountain-side ridge.He landed right onto a flower by the barn,And laughed as he knitted this frivolous yarn. “The Cow” I “met” this young lad the week he was born.  The farmer and his wife were over the moon to have…

  • The Meadow Bell

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    Tall Bellflower is an herbaceous, native, biennial that is an excellent self-seeder.  These gems flourish in the meadows at Point Pelee National Park.   Fun Fact:  One of my all-time favourite plant facts is that Tall Bellflower is a botanical misfit.  The Latin “Campanula” translates to “little bell” but, if you look closely at a…

  • Water’s Wizardry

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    Yesterday I enjoyed my first outing in 13 weeks. Thirteen weeks!!! Can you imagine? True that I was not alone, but the euphoria was every bit as wonderful as if I was.  Whilst confined to quarters, I decided to embrace my new (self-assigned) role as a pseudo-sociologist; after writing about “Third Spaces” last week, I’m…

  • Ethereal Dancers of Sanctuary Pond

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    Water Willow (Decodon verticillatus), also known as Swamp Loosestrife — not to be confused with Purple Loosestrife — is a native Ontario shrubby perennial that plays a healthy role in our wetland ecosystems. This beauty is growing on the edge of Sanctuary Pond at Point Pelee National Park in Ontario. Ethereal Dancers of Sanctuary Pond…

  • Sage is the Bee

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    Sage is the Bee A chubby bee hums in the sun,To find the sweetest purple prize.She lands upon a velvet leaf,And hugs the sage in glad surprise. She tickles every fragrant bloom,While dancing “The Bumblebee Jive”Then whispers to her purple friend,Before she flies home to her hive. ‘Til next time, y’all…

  • Happiest Faces

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    Primroses (or Primulas, in the English vernacular) are an herbaceous, non-native, cultivar, perennial.  They’re a hugely popular species of low-growing plants, because of their resiliency and their wide variety of vibrantly colourful blossoms.  Their scientific name (Primula) comes from the Latin primus, meaning “first,” because they are among the very first flowers to bloom in…

  • The Flower Hour #44 M, N, O — Quaint Quadrilles

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    Wild and Free Soft grass bends beneath our feet.Milkweed smells so cool and sweet.Thistles form like little drums.Bees fly past with gentle hums. Trees stretch high to catch the sun.Silver brooks gurgle and run.Asters wear their sapphire ring.Bumblebees begin to sing. Petals brush our wandering knees.Oxeyes flutter in the breeze.We are wild and we are…

  • Green Lace

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    Green Lace Goldenrod tips begin to curve,Holding their pollen in reserve.Wispy tendrils reach for the skiesTo wait for bees and butterflies. Not yet a bright and yellow flame,But they’re whispering autumn’s name.The little buds are packed in tight,Preparing for their golden light. Bees and wasps and hornets will meet,To taste its pollen gold and sweet.But…

  • Classic and Moody

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    My three favourite photographers — Dad, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams — all worked with black and white film and all three achieved spectacular results and created impressive bodies of fine art photography.  True that, when these gents began shooting, colour film was either a thing of the future or a very unreliable medium.  Even…

  • Sunday Stills: Hope

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    Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul,And sings the tune without the words,And never stops at all,* “Hope”, written by the divine, American poet Emily Dickinson circa 1861, uses the metaphor of a bird to represent hope, which persists in the human soul and provides comfort during difficult times without requiring anything…